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Shock Pao #1
Escapology
Shock Pao is the best. In the virtual world the Slip there’s nothing he can’t steal for the right price. Outside the Slip, though, he’s a Fail – no degree, no job. So when his ex offers him a job, breaking into a corporate databank, he accepts—it’s either that, or find himself a nice bench to sleep under. Amiga works for psychotic crime lord Twist Calhoun so when Shock’s war comes to her, it’s her job to bring him to Twist, dead or alive.
448 pages, Paperback
First published June 14, 2016
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1242 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews
June 26, 2016
Originally published at Risingshadow.
Let me start this review by saying what a stunning cyberpunk novel Ren Warom's Escapology is. It's a gorgeous, gritty and weird glimpse into a brutal future world where things have changed a lot. It's an addictive and immersive debut novel for fans of fast-paced cyberpunk fiction, because it's everything that fans of the genre could ever hope to find in a single novel.
Escapology is a fast-paced, furious and imaginative novel with an intriguingly brutal atmosphere that holds readers spellbound as they let the story unfold and become immersed in it. Once you start reading this novel and let it sink its hooks into you, you won't be able to put it down until you've reached the final page. The author takes you on such an epic and amazing journey to the future world that you simply won't be able to turn your gaze away from the pages of this novel.
Considering that Escapology is Ren Warom's debut sci-fi novel, she's done an amazing job at creating a different kind of a story that is filled with action and well-developed characters. Her descriptions of the happenings are breathtakingly vivid and multilayered with a dash of realistic details. She excels at creating an intense atmosphere and keeps the thrills coming at a relentless pace.
Here's a bit of information about the story:
Shock Pao meets his ex, Mim, who has a job for him. He knows that he may end up in trouble, but he accepts the job anyway, because he can't refuse it due to being broke and having too many enemies waiting to take him down... Amiga is a Cleaner who kills people for his boss, Twist Calhoun. She becomes involved in dangerous things as she takes a side job that sets her on a collision course with Shock... Bosun Petrie is aboard a land ship Resurrection and allows a young woman called Volk to come aboard the ship. Volk has secrets of her own that may put the ship and everyone on board in danger...
I won't go into more details about the story, because the less you know about the various happenings the more you'll enjoy them. I'll only mention that what I wrote above is just the beginning. The action-filled story goes full speed ahead and the author keeps readers entertained by various events.
Ren Warom writes engagingly about the protagonists. Shock Pao and Amiga are both fully-fleshed characters with lives and problems of their own that haunt them and cause grief to them. They're not your normal kind of sweet and endearing characters without problems, because they've suffered a lot and many things have happened to them. They're strikingly three-dimensional and believable characters who do their best to stay alive under threatening circumstances.
Shock Pao is a Haunt who can crack into any system. He's the best Haunt in the sprawling city of Foon Gung. His life has not been easy, because his childhood was complex. He is broke and has to do jobs that he doesn't necessarily want to do. He is anything but perfect, because he has many problems and enemies. Although he's not perfect and he's a bit rough around the edges, it's easy to relate to his problems and like him as a character.
Amiga is a Cleaner, an assassin, who works for the crime lord Twist Calhoun. Her job is all about swift, discreet violence (she removes threats and kills people for her boss). Her job fills her with loathing nowadays, but she has to do it in order to eat and stay alive.
I like the way Ren Warom writes about the problems of her protagonists. She makes her characters come alive by writing about how they feel about their lives and problems.
The worldbuilding is exceptionally good, because the author paints a vivid picture of a post-apocalyptic world that has changed drastically. In this novel, the breaking of the world has changed everything, because the quakes have permanently broken the land. The world is ruined and flooded beyond repair, and huge land ships sail the ocean.
It was fascinating to read about the virtual world Slip and Hive (the central nervous system of Slip), because they were interesting concepts. I enjoyed reading about how the artificial intelligences called Hive Queens were controlled and what would happen if they ever got out of control.
One of the best things about Escapology is that Ren Warom doesn't explain everything to her readers, but lets readers to do their own thinking. Certain things are revealed about the world and the characters throughout the story, but not everything is explained. I respect this kind of storytelling very much, because I like to figure out a few things for myself.
The author wrote well about certain things related to sexuality. In order to avoid writing spoilers, I won't reveal much about the happenings, but I can mention that she fluently writes about a transgender person in this novel.
When I read this novel, I noticed that the author combines various cyberpunk elements and spices them with a dash of New Weird. The New Weird elements are skillfully interwoven in the story, but don't actually manifest themselves in a visible way.
I was totally enthralled by this novel, because it was much more than I expected it to be. I've often found several cyberpunk novels to be a bit boring and tedious and lacking in characterisation, but this novel was totally different from what I've read recently. It's the ultimate cyberpunk novel that rivals the best of the genre and even outshines many well-known and respected novels in terms of action, depth and characterisation.
If you're in need of an addictive, fast-paced and immersive cyberpunk novel with thriller elements, you don't have to look elsewhere, because you've just found what you're looking for. Ren Warom's Escapology is everything you need to escape reality for a while, because it's perfect escapism. It's cyberpunk at its best and should be read by all who love gritty and well written sci-fi entertainment.
My final words are:
Ren Warom's Escapology is excellent and thrilling cyberpunk fiction!
Let me start this review by saying what a stunning cyberpunk novel Ren Warom's Escapology is. It's a gorgeous, gritty and weird glimpse into a brutal future world where things have changed a lot. It's an addictive and immersive debut novel for fans of fast-paced cyberpunk fiction, because it's everything that fans of the genre could ever hope to find in a single novel.
Escapology is a fast-paced, furious and imaginative novel with an intriguingly brutal atmosphere that holds readers spellbound as they let the story unfold and become immersed in it. Once you start reading this novel and let it sink its hooks into you, you won't be able to put it down until you've reached the final page. The author takes you on such an epic and amazing journey to the future world that you simply won't be able to turn your gaze away from the pages of this novel.
Considering that Escapology is Ren Warom's debut sci-fi novel, she's done an amazing job at creating a different kind of a story that is filled with action and well-developed characters. Her descriptions of the happenings are breathtakingly vivid and multilayered with a dash of realistic details. She excels at creating an intense atmosphere and keeps the thrills coming at a relentless pace.
Here's a bit of information about the story:
Shock Pao meets his ex, Mim, who has a job for him. He knows that he may end up in trouble, but he accepts the job anyway, because he can't refuse it due to being broke and having too many enemies waiting to take him down... Amiga is a Cleaner who kills people for his boss, Twist Calhoun. She becomes involved in dangerous things as she takes a side job that sets her on a collision course with Shock... Bosun Petrie is aboard a land ship Resurrection and allows a young woman called Volk to come aboard the ship. Volk has secrets of her own that may put the ship and everyone on board in danger...
I won't go into more details about the story, because the less you know about the various happenings the more you'll enjoy them. I'll only mention that what I wrote above is just the beginning. The action-filled story goes full speed ahead and the author keeps readers entertained by various events.
Ren Warom writes engagingly about the protagonists. Shock Pao and Amiga are both fully-fleshed characters with lives and problems of their own that haunt them and cause grief to them. They're not your normal kind of sweet and endearing characters without problems, because they've suffered a lot and many things have happened to them. They're strikingly three-dimensional and believable characters who do their best to stay alive under threatening circumstances.
Shock Pao is a Haunt who can crack into any system. He's the best Haunt in the sprawling city of Foon Gung. His life has not been easy, because his childhood was complex. He is broke and has to do jobs that he doesn't necessarily want to do. He is anything but perfect, because he has many problems and enemies. Although he's not perfect and he's a bit rough around the edges, it's easy to relate to his problems and like him as a character.
Amiga is a Cleaner, an assassin, who works for the crime lord Twist Calhoun. Her job is all about swift, discreet violence (she removes threats and kills people for her boss). Her job fills her with loathing nowadays, but she has to do it in order to eat and stay alive.
I like the way Ren Warom writes about the problems of her protagonists. She makes her characters come alive by writing about how they feel about their lives and problems.
The worldbuilding is exceptionally good, because the author paints a vivid picture of a post-apocalyptic world that has changed drastically. In this novel, the breaking of the world has changed everything, because the quakes have permanently broken the land. The world is ruined and flooded beyond repair, and huge land ships sail the ocean.
It was fascinating to read about the virtual world Slip and Hive (the central nervous system of Slip), because they were interesting concepts. I enjoyed reading about how the artificial intelligences called Hive Queens were controlled and what would happen if they ever got out of control.
One of the best things about Escapology is that Ren Warom doesn't explain everything to her readers, but lets readers to do their own thinking. Certain things are revealed about the world and the characters throughout the story, but not everything is explained. I respect this kind of storytelling very much, because I like to figure out a few things for myself.
The author wrote well about certain things related to sexuality. In order to avoid writing spoilers, I won't reveal much about the happenings, but I can mention that she fluently writes about a transgender person in this novel.
When I read this novel, I noticed that the author combines various cyberpunk elements and spices them with a dash of New Weird. The New Weird elements are skillfully interwoven in the story, but don't actually manifest themselves in a visible way.
I was totally enthralled by this novel, because it was much more than I expected it to be. I've often found several cyberpunk novels to be a bit boring and tedious and lacking in characterisation, but this novel was totally different from what I've read recently. It's the ultimate cyberpunk novel that rivals the best of the genre and even outshines many well-known and respected novels in terms of action, depth and characterisation.
If you're in need of an addictive, fast-paced and immersive cyberpunk novel with thriller elements, you don't have to look elsewhere, because you've just found what you're looking for. Ren Warom's Escapology is everything you need to escape reality for a while, because it's perfect escapism. It's cyberpunk at its best and should be read by all who love gritty and well written sci-fi entertainment.
My final words are:
Ren Warom's Escapology is excellent and thrilling cyberpunk fiction!
February 8, 2017
(Originally on http://grinningedge.com/escapology.)
Hundred pages in I thought this was heading for four stars, at three hundred pages I figured it might still make three, in the end it barely scraped two. And it's good it ended when it did; another couple hundred pages and I probably would've had to take it out back and set it on fire.
A down on his luck drug addict hacker beats himself up over his poor life choices and pines for the one time in his life when he was happy. A hired killer with commitment issues beats herself up over her poor life choices and frets about the morality of murdering people for money and cutting them up into tiny pieces to make a statement. They are swept up in a plot to do some mumbo jumbo computer shit that could allegedly end the world.
Or what's left of it anyway. Most of it was already sunk into the ocean after a series of major earthquakes. Intriguing but not exactly credible. And that's fine, in fact it's part of the cyberpunk shtick. Everything gets so complicated that no one can truly understand it all anymore. Systems interact, weird stuff happens. Blablabla. Unfortunately, there's way too much of it going on here. The internet's been replaced with a full immersion underwater sim. Companies store their valuable data in virtual underwater stations. Weird aptitude tests decide what you can and cannot do for the rest of your life. Later in the book, there are holograms flying around the city without any means to project them, and then they even start interacting with physical objects. I feel like there should have been an explanation for that one at least, but if there was, I missed it.
The protagonists start out interesting enough as well, but eventually just go broken record and whine about their predicaments. They also feel rather samey, especially considering one is a badass gang assassin and the other a transgender hacker nerd.
Writing tries for inflected, which just barely works most of the time, but then sometimes really doesn't.
Yikes! Say "every fucker else" three times fast, and a droog will materialize in a pink puff of smoke, and club you to death with a phallic piece of art. Talk about awkward.
So this really had some potential, but endlessly expressing the same sentiments is not character development and making random shit up is not worldbuilding. Its only saving grace is that it ends before it completely falls apart.
Hundred pages in I thought this was heading for four stars, at three hundred pages I figured it might still make three, in the end it barely scraped two. And it's good it ended when it did; another couple hundred pages and I probably would've had to take it out back and set it on fire.
A down on his luck drug addict hacker beats himself up over his poor life choices and pines for the one time in his life when he was happy. A hired killer with commitment issues beats herself up over her poor life choices and frets about the morality of murdering people for money and cutting them up into tiny pieces to make a statement. They are swept up in a plot to do some mumbo jumbo computer shit that could allegedly end the world.
Or what's left of it anyway. Most of it was already sunk into the ocean after a series of major earthquakes. Intriguing but not exactly credible. And that's fine, in fact it's part of the cyberpunk shtick. Everything gets so complicated that no one can truly understand it all anymore. Systems interact, weird stuff happens. Blablabla. Unfortunately, there's way too much of it going on here. The internet's been replaced with a full immersion underwater sim. Companies store their valuable data in virtual underwater stations. Weird aptitude tests decide what you can and cannot do for the rest of your life. Later in the book, there are holograms flying around the city without any means to project them, and then they even start interacting with physical objects. I feel like there should have been an explanation for that one at least, but if there was, I missed it.
The protagonists start out interesting enough as well, but eventually just go broken record and whine about their predicaments. They also feel rather samey, especially considering one is a badass gang assassin and the other a transgender hacker nerd.
Writing tries for inflected, which just barely works most of the time, but then sometimes really doesn't.
[Character goes to a goth nightclub where she used to hang out.]
Amiga was at home here once, until she Failed, and found out what the term "fair-weather-friends" really means. Not their fault they're just as enslaved to the system as every fucker else, but it still hurts.
Yikes! Say "every fucker else" three times fast, and a droog will materialize in a pink puff of smoke, and club you to death with a phallic piece of art. Talk about awkward.
So this really had some potential, but endlessly expressing the same sentiments is not character development and making random shit up is not worldbuilding. Its only saving grace is that it ends before it completely falls apart.
July 8, 2020
This book is really, really good. It took a bit to get acclimated to the writing style but once I did, boy was it ever hard to put down. I'm going to go into a spoiler free breakdown of some immediate thoughts and then write a couple spoiler stuff that was fantastic.
Ren Warom has a fan now and her familiarity with cyberpunk tropes coupled with what must be some pretty in-depth personal knowledge make this book riveting.
Everything that is a veneer in this book at the beginning becomes recycled and pertinent later on. So much so that the name of the book only really becomes entirely clear in the very last paragraph of the book, wrapping a bow on the entire character arc of the main protagonist, Shock Pao.
While Shock is a Haunt, which is essentially a hacker in what's called "the slip", Amiga is a cleaner. She's an infiltration and assassination expert. If you're thinking this sounds like a pretty typical team up of protagonists, you're totally wrong. In fact most of the assumptions I had were blown away at around page 70ish out of 445.
Both of their character arcs are similar and are somewhat eluded to with the title of the book, but both are really well fleshed out and enticing. These are not likeable people (which, I like a lot!) who are thrust together by the repeated consequences of their own actions. One of the best things about this story is that the characters make this story. It is not a story in which the characters and put into, instead, they're entirely the vehicle for everything. And it works.
There's a system in place that grinds people down by way of a psych test when they come of age. Pass and you have a somewhat golden ticket, only they're looking for complacent people, dull individuals, etc. "Fails" are people that get cast aside from society. And the fails are literally outside of it, usually squatters in abandoned buildings barely getting by, but aren't ground up in the corporate gears.
Everyone has a drive that is basically just a flash drive in their heads but also allows them some measure of VR. Some tech lets them do stuff with that like most cyberpunk books, usually weaponry.
Where it's really interesting though is the digital environment. It's not a matrix or grid like system at all, in fact it's called the slip because it's an underwater realm. You literally dive into water and have avatars there for your needs. Most of the time it goes into just Shock doing hacking stuff but it's by clear design that the most freedom anyone has is in this place, and of course jacking in costs money and is regulated and what not for most individuals.
Shocks avatars are an octopus and a shark. Later on in the book the avatars become a predominate part of the fiction that end up being really interesting parts of Shocks and others personalities and identity. I really enjoyed what was done with this.
At its heart, it's about a job that Shock gets forced into doing that goes wrong and shit unravels from there. But it always has just enough going on outside of that and within the headspace of both Amiga and Shock that, it really feels like a lot more is going on.
It gets personal, it's gritty, its unapologetic in its depiction of bad people doing what they do as a reflection of their reality. It's crass only when it feels warranted and the punk elements really sing through with a lot of British speak mixed with some cyberpunk terminology. Fails ride metro lines apart from society, specifically Amiga, a lot. They are often depicted as the most humane compared to people in power. Not a new thing, but the world itself is a faaaairly big drift from typical cyberpunk stuff and it's also super enticing. Bits and scrapes of stuff get thrown out and the writing is in such a way that she puts a lot of faith in the reader to fill in the blanks after giving the larger chunks of world building. This coupled with how unique the slip was makes me really excited for the second book coming in June.
Read this book!
Also, some spoiler stuff I loved about this book below:
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
1) Right away I felt like Shock had a chip on his shoulder and typically this is normal for cyberpunk. They are punks afterall! But slowly learning how Shock completed a transition while walking into the heart of Korea town on page 70 (I think?) was amazing. It mentally clicked everything into place for me. I was elated to read a book with a main character grappling respectfully with the fallout of that decision. But coupled with the absolute assuredly that he'd always been a man. It was just a really great read that wasn't an info dump. You slowly learn about it over time and it becomes a pertinent thing that drives Shock and fuels his every reaction. So. Good.
2) Amiga is the embodiment of the cyberpunk trope "technology is going to make us resemble itself and not humanity", and by having an actual protagonist completely roll with that POV, and making it a character arc as well, was just so satisfying for me. One because it's eventually subverted only because of the interactions between Shock and her. Two because it's pretty deftly done. When she realizes it, so do you. Or I didn't pickup on the trope or took it for granted until it was so blatantly brought to the forefront at a pivotal part in her story. Either way, awesome.
3) Shock's avatars being brought into the story was not something i expected at all. But was teased earlier on by some hints as to what he feels when he's driving the avatar and how he thinks and feels, was super interesting. The shark, a reflection of all the emotions he never ever expresses, most predominately his anger, was really neat. And to have his other avatar, which was assigned at birth, identify as female and have him grapple with those implications until the very last page. Again, extremely satisfying.
4) Having the entire story be a consequence of choice, bringing forward the case study on escapism and addiction, was just genius for me. Shock continually asks himself why he does the things he does and knows bad things will happen but instead gets high and continues to do it as though it's not a choice. Because it's not right? It's his addiction and it's also a major plot device for the entire book that makes it very organic. Never was there a line where I was like " Aw, fuck why'd you do that, Shock!?" It always made sense because that overriding urge that drove him was spelled out from the beginning. It's never in question and always has its hooks in him and because of that the normal system of control takes a back seat to a much more human one. A timeless one that won't ever stop being relevant and that's what makes a lot of this book so good.
Ren Warom has a fan now and her familiarity with cyberpunk tropes coupled with what must be some pretty in-depth personal knowledge make this book riveting.
Everything that is a veneer in this book at the beginning becomes recycled and pertinent later on. So much so that the name of the book only really becomes entirely clear in the very last paragraph of the book, wrapping a bow on the entire character arc of the main protagonist, Shock Pao.
While Shock is a Haunt, which is essentially a hacker in what's called "the slip", Amiga is a cleaner. She's an infiltration and assassination expert. If you're thinking this sounds like a pretty typical team up of protagonists, you're totally wrong. In fact most of the assumptions I had were blown away at around page 70ish out of 445.
Both of their character arcs are similar and are somewhat eluded to with the title of the book, but both are really well fleshed out and enticing. These are not likeable people (which, I like a lot!) who are thrust together by the repeated consequences of their own actions. One of the best things about this story is that the characters make this story. It is not a story in which the characters and put into, instead, they're entirely the vehicle for everything. And it works.
There's a system in place that grinds people down by way of a psych test when they come of age. Pass and you have a somewhat golden ticket, only they're looking for complacent people, dull individuals, etc. "Fails" are people that get cast aside from society. And the fails are literally outside of it, usually squatters in abandoned buildings barely getting by, but aren't ground up in the corporate gears.
Everyone has a drive that is basically just a flash drive in their heads but also allows them some measure of VR. Some tech lets them do stuff with that like most cyberpunk books, usually weaponry.
Where it's really interesting though is the digital environment. It's not a matrix or grid like system at all, in fact it's called the slip because it's an underwater realm. You literally dive into water and have avatars there for your needs. Most of the time it goes into just Shock doing hacking stuff but it's by clear design that the most freedom anyone has is in this place, and of course jacking in costs money and is regulated and what not for most individuals.
Shocks avatars are an octopus and a shark. Later on in the book the avatars become a predominate part of the fiction that end up being really interesting parts of Shocks and others personalities and identity. I really enjoyed what was done with this.
At its heart, it's about a job that Shock gets forced into doing that goes wrong and shit unravels from there. But it always has just enough going on outside of that and within the headspace of both Amiga and Shock that, it really feels like a lot more is going on.
It gets personal, it's gritty, its unapologetic in its depiction of bad people doing what they do as a reflection of their reality. It's crass only when it feels warranted and the punk elements really sing through with a lot of British speak mixed with some cyberpunk terminology. Fails ride metro lines apart from society, specifically Amiga, a lot. They are often depicted as the most humane compared to people in power. Not a new thing, but the world itself is a faaaairly big drift from typical cyberpunk stuff and it's also super enticing. Bits and scrapes of stuff get thrown out and the writing is in such a way that she puts a lot of faith in the reader to fill in the blanks after giving the larger chunks of world building. This coupled with how unique the slip was makes me really excited for the second book coming in June.
Read this book!
Also, some spoiler stuff I loved about this book below:
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
1) Right away I felt like Shock had a chip on his shoulder and typically this is normal for cyberpunk. They are punks afterall! But slowly learning how Shock completed a transition while walking into the heart of Korea town on page 70 (I think?) was amazing. It mentally clicked everything into place for me. I was elated to read a book with a main character grappling respectfully with the fallout of that decision. But coupled with the absolute assuredly that he'd always been a man. It was just a really great read that wasn't an info dump. You slowly learn about it over time and it becomes a pertinent thing that drives Shock and fuels his every reaction. So. Good.
2) Amiga is the embodiment of the cyberpunk trope "technology is going to make us resemble itself and not humanity", and by having an actual protagonist completely roll with that POV, and making it a character arc as well, was just so satisfying for me. One because it's eventually subverted only because of the interactions between Shock and her. Two because it's pretty deftly done. When she realizes it, so do you. Or I didn't pickup on the trope or took it for granted until it was so blatantly brought to the forefront at a pivotal part in her story. Either way, awesome.
3) Shock's avatars being brought into the story was not something i expected at all. But was teased earlier on by some hints as to what he feels when he's driving the avatar and how he thinks and feels, was super interesting. The shark, a reflection of all the emotions he never ever expresses, most predominately his anger, was really neat. And to have his other avatar, which was assigned at birth, identify as female and have him grapple with those implications until the very last page. Again, extremely satisfying.
4) Having the entire story be a consequence of choice, bringing forward the case study on escapism and addiction, was just genius for me. Shock continually asks himself why he does the things he does and knows bad things will happen but instead gets high and continues to do it as though it's not a choice. Because it's not right? It's his addiction and it's also a major plot device for the entire book that makes it very organic. Never was there a line where I was like " Aw, fuck why'd you do that, Shock!?" It always made sense because that overriding urge that drove him was spelled out from the beginning. It's never in question and always has its hooks in him and because of that the normal system of control takes a back seat to a much more human one. A timeless one that won't ever stop being relevant and that's what makes a lot of this book so good.
August 4, 2017
This is fantastic. After finishing Void Star, I was in the mood for some more cyberpunk and did the old "best new cyberpunk" Google. That led me to a Barnes and Noble list and this. Great world, great characters, amazing writing. I've got the sequel after Jeff Noon's latest, and will be looking forward to future works from Ren Warom.
January 2, 2019
Well.. that was... a novel. And I finished it, so that at least speaks to something positive in it.
Actually, that's probably not fair - overall, I *did* enjoy it. I loved that it was character-driven, rather than tech-driven, I loved some of Ms Warom's use of language and metaphor, and I loved that one of the main protagonists was trans.
However, there was also a lot that I didn't love about, starting with the use of language. It's one of those books that felt SORELY in need of a good editor - from typos to wildly anachronistic metaphors, there were repeated passages that pulled me out of the story. Plus, the extent to which every single freaking person in the cast was emotionally dysfunctional and communicatively-challenged just got annoying after a while.
And there was just so much in there that was unexplained and really needed to be. I'm not sure if I'm going to go on to Book 2 or not - I understand that it does get better from this point, and I'm kinda curious about where the characters go from here... but we'll see.
Actually, that's probably not fair - overall, I *did* enjoy it. I loved that it was character-driven, rather than tech-driven, I loved some of Ms Warom's use of language and metaphor, and I loved that one of the main protagonists was trans.
However, there was also a lot that I didn't love about, starting with the use of language. It's one of those books that felt SORELY in need of a good editor - from typos to wildly anachronistic metaphors, there were repeated passages that pulled me out of the story. Plus, the extent to which every single freaking person in the cast was emotionally dysfunctional and communicatively-challenged just got annoying after a while.
And there was just so much in there that was unexplained and really needed to be. I'm not sure if I'm going to go on to Book 2 or not - I understand that it does get better from this point, and I'm kinda curious about where the characters go from here... but we'll see.
January 6, 2024
Messy cyberpunk with a great sense of the universe it inhabits. Super weird, which I loved, though the book seems to lose itself in the second half. The reason I picked this one up is that one of the protagonists is a binary trans man. I was not disappointed. Transition and cyberpunk go great together, and Warom's representation was excellent.
November 4, 2016
This is classic cyberpunk in many ways – a dystopian far future, where far too many people are crammed onto the remaining landmass in a megacity. The majority live in ghettos, crime is rampant and the brightest few are cherry-picked to be educated and work for the corporations, with a secure financial future ahead of them. Shock was once one of these chosen few, but couldn’t face the prospect of a lifetime of boring dead-end work ahead of him, so dropped out. Trouble is, he has dropped a lot further down than he’d intended.
While Warom’s writing has the gritty lyric quality of the best cyberpunk when it comes to the world-building, she also excels at characterisation, which isn’t always the case with this genre. Shock is edgy, damaged and vastly prefers spending jacking into the virtual world, the Slip, to spending time with people. It didn’t help when he tangled with the wrong girl, who now has her hooks into him – dragging him into performing a series of tasks on the wrong side of the law. Until he finds himself in a mess of trouble. I don’t generally do lost causes and I’m not a huge fan of criminal underworld adventures, either – so by rights this one shouldn’t have really hooked me. And it did.
The quality of the writing made it a pleasure, but I thoroughly enjoyed Warom’s cast of damaged outcast characters, even the assassin, Amiga. It doesn’t hurt that there is a fair amount of humour within the writing, albeit on the dark side. The story takes it time to fully gather pace, but I’ve no problem with that.
The world is so richly detailed with all sorts of enjoyable flourishes, like the landships who contain floating populations from areas devastated by the quakes, that the fact Warom takes the trouble to also establish her cast of misfits was just fine with me. It meant that when the action started kicking off, I was fully invested in the world and the people involved, as well as being slightly on the edge of my seat. Warom has no qualms in causing unspeakable suffering to her main characters – and I didn’t know if they would all make it out in one piece…
This is one of the most enjoyable cyberpunk offerings I’ve read and a mightily impressive debut novel from a very talented author – and the good news is there is another book in the series due out next year. Yay!
10/10
While Warom’s writing has the gritty lyric quality of the best cyberpunk when it comes to the world-building, she also excels at characterisation, which isn’t always the case with this genre. Shock is edgy, damaged and vastly prefers spending jacking into the virtual world, the Slip, to spending time with people. It didn’t help when he tangled with the wrong girl, who now has her hooks into him – dragging him into performing a series of tasks on the wrong side of the law. Until he finds himself in a mess of trouble. I don’t generally do lost causes and I’m not a huge fan of criminal underworld adventures, either – so by rights this one shouldn’t have really hooked me. And it did.
The quality of the writing made it a pleasure, but I thoroughly enjoyed Warom’s cast of damaged outcast characters, even the assassin, Amiga. It doesn’t hurt that there is a fair amount of humour within the writing, albeit on the dark side. The story takes it time to fully gather pace, but I’ve no problem with that.
The world is so richly detailed with all sorts of enjoyable flourishes, like the landships who contain floating populations from areas devastated by the quakes, that the fact Warom takes the trouble to also establish her cast of misfits was just fine with me. It meant that when the action started kicking off, I was fully invested in the world and the people involved, as well as being slightly on the edge of my seat. Warom has no qualms in causing unspeakable suffering to her main characters – and I didn’t know if they would all make it out in one piece…
This is one of the most enjoyable cyberpunk offerings I’ve read and a mightily impressive debut novel from a very talented author – and the good news is there is another book in the series due out next year. Yay!
10/10
June 9, 2016
I have not tried cyberpunk since uni when I read...oh that famous cyberpunk story! I can not remember the name now, but it's like super famous.
Anyway, do be warned, it is not for everyone. It is very hardcore cyberpunk. I am not even sure I understood how one thing happened, but then I went all hello, it's a book, do not think too much. It's the future.
Shock is *step back, how to explain this* Well he goes into the internet and steals stuff. But then you can do that today too, so that was easy. The internet is also dead and now there is only something ruled by a big corporation and you have to go to certain rooms to get plugged in. The days of free internet is long gone.
The world broke, continents fell into the ocean, others were lifted up way too high. And you can not even get free wifi on your phone, poor poor world.
I am making a mess of things. Let's simplify.
Shock needs to steal something. He is poor and needs cash. He is good at this.
A woman is sent to hunt him down and take him out.
Bigger things are happening.
Stuff goes done!
A cyberpunk thriller that is a whirlwind.
Anyway, do be warned, it is not for everyone. It is very hardcore cyberpunk. I am not even sure I understood how one thing happened, but then I went all hello, it's a book, do not think too much. It's the future.
Shock is *step back, how to explain this* Well he goes into the internet and steals stuff. But then you can do that today too, so that was easy. The internet is also dead and now there is only something ruled by a big corporation and you have to go to certain rooms to get plugged in. The days of free internet is long gone.
The world broke, continents fell into the ocean, others were lifted up way too high. And you can not even get free wifi on your phone, poor poor world.
I am making a mess of things. Let's simplify.
Shock needs to steal something. He is poor and needs cash. He is good at this.
A woman is sent to hunt him down and take him out.
Bigger things are happening.
Stuff goes done!
A cyberpunk thriller that is a whirlwind.
August 27, 2016
Escapology is a vivid, unique and engrossing work of dystopian cyberpunk.
In a future where most of the lands we know have sunk, where survivors eke out an existence on "land ships' of floating islands, or the overcrowded, unforgiving city on the single remaining piece of dry land, run by either a rigid social order or vicious crime lords, dreaming of escape to the orbiting cities above, the characters try to carve out a life. The Slip, a virtual world of avatars and hacks contrasts and blends and tangles with the real world as we follow hacker Shock Pao on a seeming suicide mission to steal what may bring the whole system down, Amiga, a cleaner working for the most savage boss in the city and Petrie, officer on a land ship whose newest crewmember might just hold the key to the whole sordid situation.
Ren Warom has built a world with echos of Gibson, or of Philip K Dick, but in prose darkly and beautifully poetic. Edgar Allen Poe writing cyberpunk with a foul mouth. This is the kind of book you don't so much read as sink into and give yourself over to.
In a future where most of the lands we know have sunk, where survivors eke out an existence on "land ships' of floating islands, or the overcrowded, unforgiving city on the single remaining piece of dry land, run by either a rigid social order or vicious crime lords, dreaming of escape to the orbiting cities above, the characters try to carve out a life. The Slip, a virtual world of avatars and hacks contrasts and blends and tangles with the real world as we follow hacker Shock Pao on a seeming suicide mission to steal what may bring the whole system down, Amiga, a cleaner working for the most savage boss in the city and Petrie, officer on a land ship whose newest crewmember might just hold the key to the whole sordid situation.
Ren Warom has built a world with echos of Gibson, or of Philip K Dick, but in prose darkly and beautifully poetic. Edgar Allen Poe writing cyberpunk with a foul mouth. This is the kind of book you don't so much read as sink into and give yourself over to.
February 8, 2017
Weird sorta-kinda-cyberpunk. Written in present tense, and really wants to be a psychological novel. Cyber elements are really poorly explained, punk element is too wannabe-ish and tryhardian. The main character is a Korean FtM transgender, and somewhat inspired by Case from Neuromancer. He was too absorbed in self pity and his own drama for my taste. Also seemed really Mary (Garry) Sue-ish with his mad hacking skills and instant empathy he got from two other MCs. Two other main characters are female Japanese contract killer named Amiga, and a sailor. If Shock Pao, the transman hacker and the killer Amiga's storylines at least mesh together, the sailor's storyline is redundant and clashes with the other novel's parts.
The world lacks internal logic, and is more similar with manga than a novel. Probably would have been better in a graphic novel format. Many plot hooks and storylines were dropped near the end and left unresolved.
The world lacks internal logic, and is more similar with manga than a novel. Probably would have been better in a graphic novel format. Many plot hooks and storylines were dropped near the end and left unresolved.
August 15, 2016
About 20% into it, could not finish. It read like cyberpunk fanfiction, with about that level of character development (cookie cutter characters from various short stories). A few interesting ideas (land ships, for one), but execution majorly lacking. Also seemed to suffer from "Pink SF" syndrome, full of weird narcissistic romantic interludes instead of just plain old SF with characters following a plot - for example, we find out about 15% into the book that the main character is transgender. Whatever, that isn't an issue with me, it just read like some sort of virtue signalling thing and something that really doesn't matter in SciFi (who cares what gender a character is/was, let the story speak for itself) and mostly something that didn't matter to the story itself. Eh, just not my cup of tea overall.
November 15, 2016
I have basically no capacity right now to review this book. It's the first true successor to Gibson, Sterling, Cadigan, Lewis and Shirley that I've actually read, I think, in the last ten or fifteen years. It's literally stunningly good, as in, I finished, and I sat there in awed silence.
It has everything - incredible prose, a fast, tight, story, style and substance. Shock is a great character, as is Amiga. So are Puss (you get me?) and Shark. I understand that there will be sequels, and I am squeeing already.
For clarity - anyone getting pissy about a cyberpunk book featuring a trans character needs to grow the very fuck up. If you don't understand why I say that, stop reading cyberpunk, you just haven't earned it yet, baby.
It has everything - incredible prose, a fast, tight, story, style and substance. Shock is a great character, as is Amiga. So are Puss (you get me?) and Shark. I understand that there will be sequels, and I am squeeing already.
For clarity - anyone getting pissy about a cyberpunk book featuring a trans character needs to grow the very fuck up. If you don't understand why I say that, stop reading cyberpunk, you just haven't earned it yet, baby.
June 25, 2017
Slick, fast-paced cyberpunk thriller, had me hooked from page one. The world of Escapology comes alive through the prose, the unique descriptions of the setting that good cyberpunk does so well really makes you feel like you're there, or that this is a book delivered to us from that world, rather than it being a story dictated to us that gives us an oversight but is still definitively of our world. I hope that some of that made sense, I'm not sure it did. It's a good thing, is what I'm saying.
I was engaged with the characters and the story, which is essentially a virtual heist with different parties involved for different reasons. It all escalated to a satisfying conlcusion, with some cool tech ideas along the way (Emblem and the Hive stood out for me).
I was engaged with the characters and the story, which is essentially a virtual heist with different parties involved for different reasons. It all escalated to a satisfying conlcusion, with some cool tech ideas along the way (Emblem and the Hive stood out for me).
June 9, 2017
So it's been about four months since I actually read this book, and I have yet to write a review for it. Not because of indifference towards it, but because I loved this book so much. I finished it on February 6th, according to goodreads, and I have yet to leave the world of Escapology. I still think about my Shocking Boy (what a poor sap) and The Slip and giant floating landships.
The sequel comes out next month, and I've had it pre-ordered since I finished the last one, and I'm just anticipating a phone call from the bookstore. I should be finishing the Darker Shade of Magic trilogy, but a part of my mind will be eternally trapped in this beautiful ridiculous cyberpunk wonderland.
The sequel comes out next month, and I've had it pre-ordered since I finished the last one, and I'm just anticipating a phone call from the bookstore. I should be finishing the Darker Shade of Magic trilogy, but a part of my mind will be eternally trapped in this beautiful ridiculous cyberpunk wonderland.
August 22, 2018
0 stars this is so bad I had to look up what the book was even about after I read it. Nothing made sense and there was no read discernable plot or emotion to the characters. It was like the author just copy and pasted Google's first answer for scifi badass. In the first chapter it took me four chapters to even figure out where we were or what the characters' motivations were. And I HAD TO LOOK UP THE WORLD BUILDING. YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE TO DO THAT!!! This is a terrible book. Don't read it unless you like word vomit on paper. This doesnt even deserve a spoilers tag because you wouldn't be able to tell what I spoiled.
March 13, 2017
Apparently cyberpunk is not dead yet. It's been revivified, given some more bioware (the concept, not the company) and back with a vengeance for a decade that's looking disturbingly more like the eighties than anyone would really wish.
Anyway, Escapology is the love child of Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash and Steven Hall's Raw Shark Texts. It has the hacker aesthetic, gray morality and skateboarding—sorry, blading aesthetic of the former coupled with the mind screwing, AI take-overing, quest aesthetic of the latter. Oh, and the fish.
Two strange tastes that taste great together.
Anyway, Escapology is the love child of Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash and Steven Hall's Raw Shark Texts. It has the hacker aesthetic, gray morality and skateboarding—sorry, blading aesthetic of the former coupled with the mind screwing, AI take-overing, quest aesthetic of the latter. Oh, and the fish.
Two strange tastes that taste great together.
December 29, 2016
i won a copy of this book in the good reads giveaway,
after reading other reviews clearly i am missing the point with this book or something,
i personally didn't enjoy it, i could not get into to it, it took me far too long to work out what was going on, and when i did something else would happen that confused me again,
after reading other reviews clearly i am missing the point with this book or something,
i personally didn't enjoy it, i could not get into to it, it took me far too long to work out what was going on, and when i did something else would happen that confused me again,
February 15, 2017
I really loved this book. The characters are developed wonderfully and in such a way that you really care about them in a very personal way. The writing is well defined and clear.
The only issues I have is that the Queens should have been more threatening throughout the book and the islanders should have been more involved from the beginning. Other than that I have no issues.
The only issues I have is that the Queens should have been more threatening throughout the book and the islanders should have been more involved from the beginning. Other than that I have no issues.
October 19, 2016
I couldn't even finish this it was so bad. It read like mediocre fan fiction. The characters where all unlikable which just added to my dislike. The concept of the land ships was a great idea and would have loved a book of that.
May 22, 2016
Really enjoyed that
August 19, 2016
Loved this book. Post-apocalyptic cyberpunk with a woman and a trans man as main characters. Look forward to anything else from this author.
August 22, 2016
I thought this was a fantastic read. I loved the detail she went into for the lead characters. The book as fast paced and kept me involved and wanting more.
January 24, 2017
Owes a debt to William Gibson and China Mieville, but intelligent and engaging.
Read
January 5, 2018I'm not sure where to begin with this review, but suffice it to say, ESCAPOLOGY is the best science fiction/cyberpunk book I've ever read. The crafting--the glorious, rich, simultaneously gritty and velveteen words Ren Warom put to page--is what stole the show for me. I've never read such eloquent, vivid, and thought-provoking prose. Seriously, every sentence is like eating a stick of butter. Sometimes I had to go back two or three times for extra licks to ensure I got every last morsel of meaning and description. My highlighter coughed up a lung on this one.
Not being the brightest bulb in the four-pack, I'll admit I struggled some with the plot. The tech aspect was way the hell over my pea-sized brain, far more abstract than my shallow neurons are able to register, but that didn't stop me from relishing every word. I think I got the gist, and that's what matters to me.
Every scene played out like a movie in my head--even the scenes I didn't understand. Warom's writing is CRAZY visual. There's no reason why this book couldn't be made into a major motion picture. IMAX. 3-D. It's just. so. BIG.
I really liked how the characters started off in wildly different directions but ended up together through strange and unexpected twists of fate. I also enjoyed watching Shock Pao's transformation from drugged-out Haunt to ... someone much better. :-)
ESCAPOLOGY deals with a variety of important themes: identity, addiction, relationships, and gender issues, to name a few. I felt the story handled all of them with care and respect. I particularly loved how Shock comes to address a situation with Puss at the very end. Brought tears to my eyes.
I look forward to reading VIROLOGY, book 2 in this series. For now, I'm content to bask in the afterglow of my new favorite sci-fi novel and reflect on the many ways it moved me as a reader and especially as a writer.
Color me AWED. 😍
I recommend ESCAPOLOGY to science fiction/cyberpunk lovers looking for a unique story with exciting but flawed characters, world-building that will blow your mind, incredibly rich language, and stunning descriptions.
Not being the brightest bulb in the four-pack, I'll admit I struggled some with the plot. The tech aspect was way the hell over my pea-sized brain, far more abstract than my shallow neurons are able to register, but that didn't stop me from relishing every word. I think I got the gist, and that's what matters to me.
Every scene played out like a movie in my head--even the scenes I didn't understand. Warom's writing is CRAZY visual. There's no reason why this book couldn't be made into a major motion picture. IMAX. 3-D. It's just. so. BIG.
I really liked how the characters started off in wildly different directions but ended up together through strange and unexpected twists of fate. I also enjoyed watching Shock Pao's transformation from drugged-out Haunt to ... someone much better. :-)
ESCAPOLOGY deals with a variety of important themes: identity, addiction, relationships, and gender issues, to name a few. I felt the story handled all of them with care and respect. I particularly loved how Shock comes to address a situation with Puss at the very end. Brought tears to my eyes.
I look forward to reading VIROLOGY, book 2 in this series. For now, I'm content to bask in the afterglow of my new favorite sci-fi novel and reflect on the many ways it moved me as a reader and especially as a writer.
Color me AWED. 😍
I recommend ESCAPOLOGY to science fiction/cyberpunk lovers looking for a unique story with exciting but flawed characters, world-building that will blow your mind, incredibly rich language, and stunning descriptions.
May 5, 2020
The beginning is Bad. B a d. The first half is just a shitty copy of Neuromancer, following the perspective of two protagonists and an offshoot third. Shock and Amiga, for the first half, are nearly unbearable as characters. They have no redeeming qualities and their whining gets old very fast. Also Shock has a different kind of headache throughout the entire book. And then there's his completely irredeemable ex girlfriend, who's perspective we have to hear from two or three times. Pietre, the neglected third "main" protagonist, is the only one who seems to be a well rounded character as soon as we meet him. He's likable, he's flawed, he feels like a guy you wouldn't mind sitting next to in a bar.
The second half is where the book starts to shed its mediocre copycat tendencies (or at least starts to copy something I'm less familiar with) and starts to show some potential. Around page 300, Shock suddenly has his epiphany to not be a pathetic asshole. Amiga's epiphany is around that part too. (Pietre, mind you, had a very excellent act of character defining courage in the first half, but I digress).
Unironically uses "hella" as an adjective.
I held out for the sole fact that Shock is trans, ftm, and I have literally never encountered a character like that in literature. Hell I've hardly encountered a trans character in general who's entire plot point was Being Trans™. The author here is a cis woman and while I believe she tried her best, there are certain parts that are cringe-worthy and frankly vulgar in cruelty. The fact that Shock is trans is often verbally used against him in very descriptive, demeaning ways. Always a punch down, never a punch up,very fixated on genetalia, etc.
Anyway, read Neuromancer and read trans stories by trans writers. Bye.
The second half is where the book starts to shed its mediocre copycat tendencies (or at least starts to copy something I'm less familiar with) and starts to show some potential. Around page 300, Shock suddenly has his epiphany to not be a pathetic asshole. Amiga's epiphany is around that part too. (Pietre, mind you, had a very excellent act of character defining courage in the first half, but I digress).
Unironically uses "hella" as an adjective.
I held out for the sole fact that Shock is trans, ftm, and I have literally never encountered a character like that in literature. Hell I've hardly encountered a trans character in general who's entire plot point was Being Trans™. The author here is a cis woman and while I believe she tried her best, there are certain parts that are cringe-worthy and frankly vulgar in cruelty. The fact that Shock is trans is often verbally used against him in very descriptive, demeaning ways. Always a punch down, never a punch up,very fixated on genetalia, etc.
Anyway, read Neuromancer and read trans stories by trans writers. Bye.
July 20, 2017
Escapology is science fiction as its finest. The story is built on various perspectives who are confined to a massive computer-like program called the Slip. Crime-lord Twist Calhoun has a hand in the system but can’t control his lust for more. Shock Pao, a miserable and insecure bum and Amiga, a selfish assassin are among the few who avoid pissing him off. They’re from entirely separate parts of the virtual world but fall similarly in the same race as everyone else to get their drive in the Slip.
Shock Pao is the epitome of a failure: no job, no degree and a blood-sucking ex whom he allows to drain his sense of humanity upon request. No surprise, he’s thrown into a life-or-death maze involving his ex and Twist.
Amiga, on the other hand is an emotionally-unstable badass who can break anyone’s neck just to prove a point. She’s used to keeping within Twist’s good graces so bringing Shock to him dead or alive is nothing new. However, luck is on Shock’s side so it isn’t an easy win.
Escapology is a cyberpunk junkie’s dream. For those not used to such a genre, it will take focus and a great deal of imagination to keep up with the cyber jargon and 9-megabits-per-second pace. Consistent plot twists, gore and game-overs will keep the reader enthralled and intrigued until the end.
Shock Pao is the epitome of a failure: no job, no degree and a blood-sucking ex whom he allows to drain his sense of humanity upon request. No surprise, he’s thrown into a life-or-death maze involving his ex and Twist.
Amiga, on the other hand is an emotionally-unstable badass who can break anyone’s neck just to prove a point. She’s used to keeping within Twist’s good graces so bringing Shock to him dead or alive is nothing new. However, luck is on Shock’s side so it isn’t an easy win.
Escapology is a cyberpunk junkie’s dream. For those not used to such a genre, it will take focus and a great deal of imagination to keep up with the cyber jargon and 9-megabits-per-second pace. Consistent plot twists, gore and game-overs will keep the reader enthralled and intrigued until the end.
July 11, 2023
I read a lot of cyberpunk, but I haven’t had a cyberpunk story hit me this hard since I first read Neuromancer.
It had its derivative abstractions and clichés, as is to be expected from a hacker-centric cyberspace story taking place in an urban sprawl with street samurai. (It also hit some of the pitfalls of convolution that seems to be more of a fault of the genre than any fault of the author’s.)
However, in the places where its unique ideas stopd out, they did so with aplomb. There were multiple parts of the world-building in particular that I thought were incredibly unique and I thoroughly enjoyed just how vivid the last third of the book was.
It’s not a perfect read by any means, as some of the writing was tedious or weirdly structured, but for a cyberpunk story it had a very human backbone and I’ll applaud that.
Oh! And one of the main characters is a male-presenting trans person, which I though was awesome. I don’t fall anywhere near that category of human, but, as an outsider looking in, I thought that that aspect was handled very well and is worthy of recognition.
It had its derivative abstractions and clichés, as is to be expected from a hacker-centric cyberspace story taking place in an urban sprawl with street samurai. (It also hit some of the pitfalls of convolution that seems to be more of a fault of the genre than any fault of the author’s.)
However, in the places where its unique ideas stopd out, they did so with aplomb. There were multiple parts of the world-building in particular that I thought were incredibly unique and I thoroughly enjoyed just how vivid the last third of the book was.
It’s not a perfect read by any means, as some of the writing was tedious or weirdly structured, but for a cyberpunk story it had a very human backbone and I’ll applaud that.
Oh! And one of the main characters is a male-presenting trans person, which I though was awesome. I don’t fall anywhere near that category of human, but, as an outsider looking in, I thought that that aspect was handled very well and is worthy of recognition.
June 15, 2018
This book is a refreshing entry in the cyberpunk genre, or actually, the post-cyberpunk subgroup. Escapology has a more upbeat ending than cyberpunk normally does. I find that I'm enjoying those books more and more. Now I have a new author's works to add to my shelf.
The characters are gritty and weird, but real. And the narrator's voice is there the whole time, capturing the tone perfectly. The action kept me blazing through the book at every opportunity and the personal touches (some I can confidently say reflect her own) that Warom instilled in the characters made them come alive. The book's only real weakness (for me) were the occasional scenes where the writing became unclear as to what exactly was happening or what I'm supposed to picture in my head. Re-reading those passages helped in most cases; the others I just accepted as being opaque. I look forward to reading the sequel.
The characters are gritty and weird, but real. And the narrator's voice is there the whole time, capturing the tone perfectly. The action kept me blazing through the book at every opportunity and the personal touches (some I can confidently say reflect her own) that Warom instilled in the characters made them come alive. The book's only real weakness (for me) were the occasional scenes where the writing became unclear as to what exactly was happening or what I'm supposed to picture in my head. Re-reading those passages helped in most cases; the others I just accepted as being opaque. I look forward to reading the sequel.
December 30, 2019
I was in the mood for some cyberpunk, and boy did I get it. Each paragraph is grimy, desperate, tech-savvy, and laden with enough neon lights to give you a seizure. In other words, just what I wanted.
Starting out, learning what the unique words meant, but I soon caught up. I appreciated the way the author didn't hold your hand and say "Okay kids, Slip is a virtual reality version of the Internet."
As much of a cowardly junkie the main character, Shock Pao, was supposed to be, I really liked him. I didn't want anything bad to happen to this guy. He didn't want to hurt anyone. He just wanted to do a few hacking jobs, just enough to score money for decent drugs. Of course, he finds himself in way over his head when he goes on his next run.
Starting out, learning what the unique words meant, but I soon caught up. I appreciated the way the author didn't hold your hand and say "Okay kids, Slip is a virtual reality version of the Internet."
As much of a cowardly junkie the main character, Shock Pao, was supposed to be, I really liked him. I didn't want anything bad to happen to this guy. He didn't want to hurt anyone. He just wanted to do a few hacking jobs, just enough to score money for decent drugs. Of course, he finds himself in way over his head when he goes on his next run.
March 27, 2021
Took me a while to get through this for some reason or another. It's on my kindle which is my "in bed reading" device and I've been struggling with the whole "can't really sleep but can't keep my eyes open" insomnia/fatigue. So I ended up reading this really slowly. It would probably be better to read it in larger chunks than I did. It took me a bit to get caught up in the flow of the prose.
The stars here are the (completely broken) characters. They are complex and self recriminating and if you think that doesn't sound like something you are interested in then it's probably best to skip because you spend a lot of time in these characters' heads.
The stars here are the (completely broken) characters. They are complex and self recriminating and if you think that doesn't sound like something you are interested in then it's probably best to skip because you spend a lot of time in these characters' heads.
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